Thursday, December 24, 2009

When anyone is disturbed or saddened under the pretext of a good and soul-profiting matter, and is angered against his neighbour, it is evident that this is not according to God: for everything that is of God is peaceful and useful, and leads a man to humility and to judging himself.

-St Barsanuphius the Great

What can I say in response to this other than to repeat the protest of the disciples when the Saviour told them that in order to inherit eternal life, the must eat of his Body and drink of his Blood? 'This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?'

The truth is that I have no response to this. I do not understand it. When our hierarchs and priests teach and practise things that we know are contrary to the saving Faith, it causes pain and confusion, and yes, sometimes anger, because we know that what they are doing is wrong, and we know that they know that it is wrong, and yet they do it anyway. So how are we to respond to that? The anger is detrimental to our spiritual well-being. It eats away at the soul and affects our relationship with God and creation, and when we recognise this it is very easy to become resentful of those whose actions have elicited these feelings in us. Yet only we have the power to choose to leave it behind. God will strengthen us to do so but not against our will. We must shed the anger and bitterness and seek the peace and love of Christ in our hearts.

But does this mean that we are to remain silent? As Chistians, baptised into the death and resurrection of the Christ, and one with our brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ, are we to stand idly by, humbly remaining silent while our beloved brethren are led astray? The Saviour tells us:

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Matthew 7:15

How do we retain our spiritual composure and our focus on the path of humility while simultaneously facing the reality of the dangers that confront us even within the life of the Church? I do not know. Perhaps it is a balance that we are not called to find. Perhaps it is not for most of us to challenge the heresiarchs, and perhaps we should leave it to those who have the spiritual gounding to face them, to the Ephesian St Marks and the Studite St Theodores of today. But what if St Mark of Ephesus and St Theodore the Studite, and others like them, had said the same thing?

2 comments:

Yes indeed. This is a mightily difficult one Michael. I usually hold it in till I suddenly explode. It happens just when I think I am doing so well by holding my peace. But then the burning fire, so hard to contain, engulfs me and I burst into flame. All are consumed and I leave trembling with the hurt of regret. "Oh no! I've done it again."

Then out of the blue, an apology from one honest hearer: "forgive me," he says, "you were right". But my victory is not sweet, for I fear I've lost the others whom I feel I must now pursue to say something like, "forgive me also, I was really too rigid; I could have been more civil". Amazing really! Oh, to state my case intelligently and without so much emotion; so much rudeness of speech; such rustic mannerism...Oh God help!

Thank God you've come away thinking and praying about it and seeking advice, maybe now you can put your thoughts together... you know, arrange them on paper with appropriate words for more effect. Maybe that will help and you will feel better at the end of it. Maybe then your victory will be sweet. Alas, I know the other.

Thank you so much for this, Daniel. This is largely my problem as well. I don't quite know how to say things. It is an area where my unapologetic West Indian forthrightness clashes with my English reservation. Like you, it either gets bottled up and festers or it gets said in a way that will cause upset or offence to others, which is not my intention.

Reasoned writing is perhaps best. You can write it, think, pray, revisit it and re-write it later before anybody sees it. A spoken word cannot be taken back.

About Me

I am an Orthodox Christian and a Reader in the Diocese of Great Britain and Ireland, serving with the blessing of His Grace Archbishop Mark. I struggle along, much like most people, but I do what I can, by God's grace.
I have a love for the worship of the Orthodox Church - both eastern and western - and long for the day when we have a local Orthodox Church in Britain, giving a single voice and witness of the ancient Faith of these isles to the people of these isles, with their various backgrounds and walks of life.

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This weblog is not an official site of the Russian Orthodox Church or any of its parishes or missions. The views expressed herein are solely my own except where otherwise stated, and are not necessarily representative of my diocese or parish. Any mistakes or misrepresentations are due to my own failings, for which I ask your patience and forgiveness.